''Synthetic Socks'' is a very early recording by
Gene Ween, released on
TeenBeat Records
Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unrest ...
in 1987. It is almost entirely the product of Gene Ween making personal recordings in his bedroom (
Dean Ween appears only a few times on this cassette).
The cover of the album is a close up of a child (possibly Gene himself) holding a frog. Alternate versions of the cover crop the image so only the frog and the child's hand can be seen
Instruments include Synsonic Drums,
Korg Poly-800
The Korg Poly-800 is a synthesizer released by Korg in 1983. Its initial list price of $795 made it the first fully programmable synthesizer that sold for less than $1000. It featured a 49 key non-velocity sensitive keyboard, two buttons for d ...
, piano, and reel-to-reel. Scott Lowe assisted in post production using delay and additional keyboards.
Long time friend of Gene Ween, Scott Lowe, assisted in production of the album, adding effects to some of the songs.
Credited as Synthetic Sox (not "Socks" as in the album title), three of the TeenBeat tracks; Tree, Sea of Mellichis and Investigating Tornadoes, were released on vinyl as part of Shadow Mouth: Compilation One, released on the Shadow Mouth Record label based in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
''Synthetic Socks'' features a very embryonic version of Ween's trademark sound.
Track listing
#"Baked Potatoe"
sic
The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...
#"Cops"
#"Hence It Came" (instrumental)
#"Let's Live Together"
#"Once I Lived"
#"Anything Quickly" (instrumental)
#"Get Out Of Here Son"
#"GI"
#"Ho Ho Ho"
#"Some Weird Shit"
#"Eurphyoosh"
#"Tree" (instrumental)
#"Love"
#"I Hate Snuggles"
#"Style of Carpet" (instrumental)
#"Collectives"
#"Cheese Fries"
#"Weenstock"
#"So Pink"
#"Sea of Mellchis"
#"Investigating Tornadoes"
#"Today It Is My Birthday"
#"Sonata in A#G Overture" (instrumental)
#"Happy Family"
#"School Days"
#"I Wanna Lick It/Can I Speak To Mark With Electricity?"
"I Wanna Lick It/Can I Speak To Mark With Electricity?" features the 1975
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
hit "
Rock and Roll All Nite
"Rock and Roll All Nite" is a song by American rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1975 album '' Dressed to Kill''. It was released as the A-side of their fifth single, with the album track "Getaway". The studio version of the song pe ...
" in its entirety. This is due to Gene Ween recording the album on old
cassettes
Cassette may refer to:
Technology
* Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback
** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...
with music already on the tape. This effect is also heard on the Ween song "
Birthday Boy", which near the end of the song
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
's song "
Echoes" kicks in. Other examples of this effect happening in Ween's discography are on "
I Play It Off Legit" and "Flies On My Dick".
References
{{Authority control
1987 albums
TeenBeat Records albums
Ween albums